Dvrshttp://www.adweek.com/taxonomy/term/3982/all
enComcast Files Patent to Halt DVR Ad-Skippinghttp://www.adweek.com/news/television/comcast-files-patent-halt-dvr-ad-skipping-140522
Melissa Hoffmann<p>
Comcast&nbsp;is seeking a patent for new technology that will force subscribers who fast-forward through DVR-recorded shows&nbsp;<a href="http://www.fiercecable.com/story/comcast-finds-way-deliver-ads-subscribers-who-skip-commercials-dvr/2012-05-11" style="color: rgb(2, 122, 198); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">to view advertising anyway</a>, according to FierceCable, an online publication for cable network execs.</p>
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The cable operator is doing the exact opposite of what Dish announced last week. Dish&#39;s new Ad Hop technology <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/television/dish-invites-you-skip-prime-time-broadcast-ads-140323" target="_blank">allows viewers to totally skip ads during DVR playback</a> of prime-time broadcast programming&mdash;an idea that, for obvious reasons, is unlikely to please advertisers.</p>
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Comcast subscribers who hit fast-forward on their remotes would receive an alternate ad displayed in the center of their TV screens, which could be partially transparent, FierceCable reported, citing a U.S. patent application for the technology.&nbsp;The patent application also reportedly details a strategy for targeting alternative ads to skip-happy subscribers based on demographics and viewing habits.</p>
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Some have pointed out that Dish&#39;s Ad Hop feature <a href="http://www.gadgetbox.msnbc.msn.com/technology/gadgetbox/deja-vu-dish-network-feature-lets-users-skip-tv-ads-766694" target="_blank">is limited</a>&nbsp;in that it only allows viewers to skip ads during prime-time programming from four large networks&mdash;ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox.&nbsp;</p>
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However, with the average cost for a 30-second spot climbing again&mdash;now at $111,500, according to TVB&mdash;the ad industry still will have to figure out how to count Dish&#39;s 14 million subscribers during CPM negotiations during the upfront.</p>
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MSNBC noted that DVR company TiVo tried something similar to Ad Hop in 1999, letting viewers skip ads, but pulled the plug on the plan after networks expressed outrage.&nbsp;</p>
Televisionad spendingAdvertisingCableComcastDishMelissa HoffmannDvrsRatingsSatelliteTiVoMon, 14 May 2012 17:34:15 +0000140522 at http://www.adweek.comDish, EchoStar to Pay TiVo $500 Million to Settle Suithttp://www.adweek.com/news/technology/dish-echostar-pay-tivo-500-million-settle-suit-131240
Emma Bazilian<p>
Dish Network and its parent EchoStar <a href="http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/tivo-dish-network-echostar-announce-half-billion-dollar-settlement-patent-litigation-nasdaq-tivo-1508426.htm" target="_blank">announced Monday morning</a> that they plan to pay TiVo $500 million to settle an <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/14/tivo-responds-to-courts-decision-to-revisit-patent-case-as-stock-plummets/" target="_blank">ongoing patent dispute</a>.</p>
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The settlement has been years in the making. TiVo had sued the companies (which at the time were a single entity) in 2004 over patent infringement relating to TiVo&rsquo;s DVR technology. TiVo won the suit, but then in May 2010, a federal appeals court <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/02/dish-and-echostar-settle-patent-litigation-with-tivo-agree-to-pay-500-million/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed:+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader" target="_blank">decided to reconsider the verdict</a>. Two weeks ago, the court ruled that it would uphold the verdict.</p>
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Dish and EchoStar will pay an initial sum of $300 million, and the remaining $200 million will be paid in installments between 2012 and 2017. The settlement will dismiss all further litigation with prejudice and dissolve injunctions against Dish and EchoStar.</p>
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Additionally, TiVo has granted Dish and EchoStar licenses under its TimeWarp patent, which &ldquo;ultimately will allow us to enhance the performance of our award-winning DVRs,&rdquo; said Dish CEO and chairman Charlie Ergen. (TimeWarp is the technology that allows users to record a TV program while watching another simultaneously.) TiVo will also play a role in promoting Dish&rsquo;s Blockbuster digital video service.</p>
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&quot;The compensation from this settlement, including the resulting reduction in legal expenditures, puts TiVo in an enviable financial and strategic position,&rdquo; said TiVo president and CEO Tom Rogers.</p>
TechnologyDishDvrsEchoStarLawsuitsTiVoMon, 02 May 2011 17:10:52 +0000131240 at http://www.adweek.comDVR Data May Drive Some TV Show Renewalshttp://www.adweek.com/news/television/dvr-data-may-drive-some-tv-show-renewals-130983
Emma Bazilian<p>
DVRs are changing the way that Americans watch TV, and networks are paying attention. Advertisers currently pay networks based on how well their shows do in C3 ratings&mdash;which is how many viewers watch a program&rsquo;s commercials up to three days after its original broadcast. But now, The New York Times reports, thanks to the popularity of the DVR, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/25/business/media/25dvr.html?pagewanted=2&amp;partner=rss&amp;emc=rss" target="_blank">networks are tracking shows</a> up to a week after they first air, and while it&rsquo;s giving some shows on the brink of cancellation a second chance, advertisers aren&#39;t interested in the extra data.</p>
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One of the resuscitated programs is Fox&rsquo;s Fringe, whose 1.7 rating (about 2.24 million viewers in the 18-to-49-year-old range targeted by Fox) is low enough to make it a candidate for being axed. But when the following week&rsquo;s worth of DVR playback is added to the data, the rating increases to 2.5 (about 3.3 million viewers). The ABC series Parenthood similarly jumped from a rating of 2 when it first aired to a 2.9 over the next seven days.</p>
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Network executives are supportive of including this DVR data in shows&rsquo; ratings. &ldquo;You&rsquo;d be foolish not to look at the DVR performance as a measure of the potential a program has,&rdquo; said Alan Wurtzel, the president for research at NBC. &ldquo;You have to recalibrate everything&mdash; what&rsquo;s a hit, what&rsquo;s a marginal show, what&rsquo;s a failure.&rdquo;</p>
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He also said that there was a correlation between the shows&rsquo; viewer ratings and advertising ratings over the seven days. &ldquo;I would take information for 14 days if [Nielsen] would provide it,&rdquo; Wurtzel added, &ldquo;so we can monitor engagement and audience behavior, even if we can&rsquo;t monetize it.&rdquo;</p>
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But according to Aaron Cohen, the chief negotiating officer for Horizon Media, advertisers aren&rsquo;t planning to consider including more than three days&#39; worth of data in their advertising rates. &ldquo;There is a good reason why we wouldn&rsquo;t want to go beyond C3,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Advertisers like retailers and restaurants, anything with near-term openings, are looking for one- to three-day campaigns.&rdquo;</p>
TelevisionAdvertisingC3DvrsNielsenRatingsMon, 25 Apr 2011 17:23:42 +0000130983 at http://www.adweek.comStudy finds some ads work in fast-forwardhttp://www.adweek.com/adfreak/study-finds-some-ads-work-fast-forward-15085
Adweek Blogs<p><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081103102314.htm" style="float: right;"><img alt="Dvr copy" class="at-xid-6a00d8341c51c053ef010535d132e5970b " src="/files/adfreak/6a00d8341c51c053ef010535d132e5970b-250wi" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px; width: 177px; height: 118px;" /></a>
</p><p>Pretty soon, you might start noticing big fat logos popping up front and center in just about every TV ad. And you&#39;ll have two Boston College professors to thank. In a recent study of television viewers, Professors S. Adam Brasel and James Gips found that people actually noticed and remembered some advertising messages while fast-forwarding through commercial breaks on DVRs. The catch? They only noticed <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081103102314.htm">branding that appeared in the center of the screen</a>. &quot;In the age of DVRs,&quot; Brasel says, &quot;advertisers who place their brands anywhere outside the center of the viewing screen do so at their own brand peril.&quot; Of course, DVRs are still only used by about 30 percent of TV viewers, which means 70 percent of the audience—and 100 percent of advertising creatives—are going to have to suffer through a deluge of ads featuring the Taco Bell logo dead-center for a painfully long 30 seconds. </p><p><em>—Posted by David Griner </em></p>http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/study-finds-some-ads-work-fast-forward-15085#commentsAdvertising & BrandingDvrsGrinerScienceTue, 04 Nov 2008 12:26:04 +000015085 at http://www.adweek.com